news
MAS ssNMR @ RuG arrived and operational (mostly)
Instrumentation update: Our new 600 MHz NMR spectrometer from Bruker Biospin has arrived and been installed in building 5113 on the Zernike campus of the University of Groningen. The system features a new high-performance NEO-style console, with the necessary solid-state NMR (ssNMR) accessories. Although the ordered magic-angle-spinning (MAS) ssNMR probes are not yet available, a preliminary MAS ssNMR probe has been successfully installed. For now, a few components are still missing, and the field remains a bit unstable. However, preliminary experiments have started! Further updates to follow. For more information on our capabilities and for information about usage please contact […]
Publication: New review article on the structural biology of Huntington’s disease.
Now online at the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine: our new review article summarizing recent contributions from solid-state NMR and electron microscopy to further our understanding of the (mis)behavior of the mutant proteins behind Huntington’s disease. Citation: I. Matlahov & P.C.A. van der Wel (2019) Conformational studies of pathogenic expanded polyglutamine protein deposits from Huntington’s disease. Exp. Biol. Med. in press; DOI: 10.1177/1535370219856620
Publication: cytochrome c-cardiolipin complexes as pro-apoptotic lipid peroxidase.
Our first paper of 2019 has just appeared online in the journal Structure. It describes the very nice solid-state NMR studies performed by Dr. Mingyue Li, on a protein-lipid complex involved in the early stages of mitochondrial apoptosis. Together with our collaborators in the groups of Valerian Kagan and Jinwoo Ahn (University of Pittsburgh), she looked at the structure and function of the peroxidase active cytochrome c in its membrane-bound state. For more details on the findings, including how the lipid substrate cardiolipin forms membrane nano domains and acts as a dynamic regulator, please see the paper at the journal. […]
New PhD position available – polyglutamine structural biology.
Update: this position has been filled! 26/02/2019: A new fully-funded PhD position in the lab is available in our project studying the structure of polyglutamine amyloid proteins involved in Huntington’s disease. This research position will focus to a large extent on continuing and expanding the structural ssNMR methods that we previously reported in: • Hoop et al. Huntingtin exon 1 fibrils feature an interdigitated β-hairpin-based polyglutamine core. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2016 Feb 9;113(6):1546–51. This will involve the development, testing and application of advanced ssNMR structural measurements. Aside from the ssNMR development work, structural measurements will be integrated with mechanistic and […]
Update on New Feringa Building
Exciting news about the upcoming construction of a brand new building for the lab and the Institute. Construction of the new Feringa Building at the RUG will commence later this year, to be completed in 2021. For more see link: https://www.rug.nl/groundbreakingwork/190222_feringa_building_construction_agreement
Looking for NMR research technician (MSc/PhD)
More information to follow later, but we just posted the official advertisement for a new research technician with a NMR/SSNMR background. For details see here: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S0006SAP The deadline is Feb 14th, 2019. Applications should be done via the above URL.
Publication: new collaborative paper on DNP/ssNMR-enabled studies at natural abundance (JACS).
Congrats to Talia, Jennifer and Irina, as well as our international network of collaborators on the acceptance of an exciting new paper in JACS. It describes the power of dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) to enable multidimensional solid-state NMR studies of polyglutamine-expanded huntingtin exon 1 fibrils. Importantly in these experiments we did not apply stable-isotope labeling to these protein deposits that are implicated in Huntington’s disease. This approach enables great structural data and can hopefully prove applicable to many more (types of) samples. More info to follow, but for now: Read the accepted paper here at the journal. Title: Structural […]
New PhD position(s) available in Groningen.
Please visit the “Join?” page for information about new PhD position(s) opening up in the lab at the University of Groningen. Or: >>> Apply here. <<<<
University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Starting in Aug. 2018, the solid-state NMR group of Prof. Van der Wel has moved to the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials at the University of Groningen. This brings Prof. Van der Wel back to the Netherlands after many years in the USA. Please also see the announcement here: https://www.rug.nl/research/zernike/news/newsitems/201808_vdwel We look forward to continuing our interdisciplinary collaborative research with new and old collaborators across the globe. For a while the group will be in transition. Please stay posted for further news, updates and exciting new papers. Selected Links: ZIAM announcement ZIAM homepage University of Groningen homepage Groningen, The Netherlands on […]
Publication: Dynamics-based spectral editing – DYSE SSNMR.
Our new review article discussing the concept of dynamics-based spectral editing (DYSE) in ssNMR is now available online in the journal Methods. In it, we describe how the dynamics-sensitive pulse sequences enable the filtering out (or spectral editing) of signals based on their differences in dynamics. Applications by ourselves and many other groups are discussed. Notably, these applications range across a huge swatch of different sample types, going from designer peptide nano materials to whole tissues and even living organisms. Citation: Hidden motions and motion-induced invisibility: dynamics-based spectral editing in solid-state NMR. Matlahov, I., Van der Wel, P.C.A. Methods, […]